After issuing ₦237 billion in loans in 2024, LAPO will launch a new banking app aimed at broadening its appeal beyond its traditional base of petty traders. With 35 years of history as a microfinance bank, LAPO is now targeting younger Nigerians and diversifying its customer profile.
The microfinance bank is synonymous with small-ticket loans for low-income earners but it wants to reshape that image.
Set to launch in the first quarter of 2025, the LAPO app will allow users to take loans (starting at ₦20,000), pay bills, conduct daily transactions, track expenses, and open fixed deposits at rates comparable to wealth management startups like Piggyvest and Cowrywise.
“We’re creating a product that resonates with the evolving needs of our customers,” said Amechi Koldsweat, head of digital banking. “When you think of LAPO, the default customer archetype is the woman selling pepper—but that same woman has kids in university, kids she took loans to train.”
LAPO, which serves 6 million customers, is entering Nigeria’s competitive digital banking market alongside established players like OPay, PalmPay, and Moniepoint. Although it is a later entrant, LAPO’s extensive physical presence across 34 states, long history in credit issuance, and existing cashback reward programs are significant competitive assets, its executives told TechCabal.
The bank’s hybrid strategy will blend digital innovation with its traditional in-person services. “Our physical branches remain crucial for financial inclusion,” said Oluremi Akande, director of marketing and communications. “While we’re expanding digital services, many of our customers still require in-person financial literacy programs and community support.”
With plans to grow loan disbursements from ₦237 billion in 2024 to over ₦400 billion in 2025, LAPO intends to use its app to issue “better and faster” loans. Those loans will range from ₦20,000 to ₦50 million depending on customer profiles, with monthly interest rates between 2.9% and 3.5%.
Digital lending is fraught with risk. In 2024, Techstars-backed Blackcopper, which set out to provide collateral-free loans to Nigerian SMEs, shut down under the weight of ₦1 billion in debt after it claimed customers falsified KYC information and struggled to repay. LAPO is taking a measured approach: it will start with small digital loans and gradually increase limits for borrowers with a strong repayment history.
The bank is also partnering with credit bureaus like CRC and First Central and leveraging its proprietary data to assess creditworthiness. “If customers have defaulted elsewhere, we will know before lending to them. For new users, we will review all the data that we can get,” Koldsweat said.
By combining its long-standing reputation with new technological capabilities, LAPO is positioning itself to serve both its core market and attract new, younger customers. Its careful rollout and hybrid strategy could prove vital in an environment where user inertia and stiff competition from digital-only fintechs remain significant challenges.
